Baby coach cover



g- 1953 B. c. KENNEDY ETAL 2,648,565

BABY COACH COVER Filed Oct. 10, 1950 6 INVENTORS. BERNARDINECKENNEDY JOSEPH F. KENNEDY ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 11 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BABY COACH COVER Bernardine 0. Kennedy and Joseph F. Kennedy, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application October 10, 195.0, Serial No. 189,454

2 Claims. 1

The object of the invention is to provide improvements in covers for baby coaches, such as are adapted to be attached to and removed from the coach at will, and which when in operative position effectively protects the occupant of the coach from all forms of precipitation as well as from insects of all kinds, while affording ample ventilation for the infant while asleep or awake.

As is well known, young mothers frequently have no one with whom to leave their babies, While it becomes necessary for them to visit grocery, meat and other stores, and as such stores cannot well accommodate a large number of baby coaches, the coaches and their occupants have to be left outside, while in any such case during rain, snow and sleet, the infant in an unprotected coach is subjected to the elements while going to and from such stores and other such places, and in addition thereto it is most desirable to protect both the interior and exterior of the coach including the hood, when the infant has been removed therefrom to take it into a store, home, or other type of shelter.

More specifically, therefore, the object is to provide a very light-weight cover of transparent material, such as vinyl plastic or the like, which while adequately protecting the infant from rain, snow, sleet and the like, permits the infant to be seen at all times by its parent or other attendant, Without distortion of color or shape, and which is both economical, ehicient and adapted, when not in use and removed from the coach, to be folded or rolled into a most compact package for ready carrying, as for example in a pocket in, on, or attached to the coach, or in fact any other place that may be convenient and more desirable.

Another object is to provide a device of this character, which normally extends slightly beneath the upper free edge portion of the coach body, with elastic or resilient means to constrict the lower edge portion of the cover about the coach, so as to thereby prevent cold and insects from entering therebetween, while ventilating apertures are properly placed with a removable cover for at least some of them, so as to nicely regulate the degree of ventilation, whereby the carbon monoxide exhaled by the infant can escape at all times, and fresh air can enter just as easily, while in cold weather the warmth or body heat of the infant can be retained, and the interior will not become too chilled when low temperatures prevail outside.

A further object is to provide such a device with a semi-transparent flap or visor section,

'2 that is stitch-ed or otherwise hingedly secured along a portion at least of one edge to the cover, while its major portion being properly tinted comprises a flap that can in one position shield the infant from the glare of the sky and sun, and in another or reversed position is entirely removed from its normally operative or shielding position, together with means to detachably or yieldingly secure such flap or visor in either operative or inoperative position, and the color of the material of such flap or visor being such as will shield the eyes of the infant against the suns act-into rays, while permitting the attendant to View the infant either below or to one sideof such flap or visor at will.

With the objects thus briefly stated, the invention comprises further details of construction and operation, such as are hereinafter fully brought out in the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a baby coach equipped with a demountable, transparent cover such as comprises the present invention; Fig. 2 shows the approximate shape of a blank of the transparent material for a cover, before it has been stitched or otherwise secured along the seams; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the upper portion of a coach and cover with the light-shielding visor flap in lower operative position; Fig. i is a similar view showing the visor flap in upper, retracted, or inoperative position; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the cover with the laterally opposite end portions of the visor flap freely extending in opposite directions, as before being secured in operative or inoperative position; and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the rear of the coach cover, showing a section of elastic material connecting the opposite ends of a cord by which the lower marginal edge portion of the cover is made to cling about the upper portion of the body of a coach, to exclude insects and to prevent the cover from being lifted by the wind.

Referring to the drawings, a representative type of baby coach is shown as comprising a body portion I, carried by a frame 2 that is mounted upon a plurality of wheels 3, and provided with a handle 4 for use in pushin and pulling the coach. From the upper edge of one end portion of said body rises the usual hood 5, which may be of any suitable form and either fixedly positioned or foldable, since the improved cover may be used with either form, though with the foldable form only when in raised position.

Referring to Fig. 2, there is here shown the general shape of a blank that has been cut from a flat sheet of transparent and preferably colorless flexible material, such for example as vinylplastic, but which is not intended to be limited to any particular material, so long as it is both transparent and flexible, so as to be foldable into a relatively small package. It is also to be understood that the improved cover is not to be limited to any particular shape of blank, as the size and configuration of the blank will vary with the style, size and general construction of the coach to which the finished cover is to be attached.

This blank is probably best described as comprising a central body section, that is subdivided in the present type for purposes of illustration into the finally slanting forward section 6, a final relatively flat central section I and a final curved rearward section 8. A short forward extension 9 projects from the free end of said forward section, while from the laterally opposite sides of said forward section project angular extensions IO, that finally form the sides of the forward, downwardly slanting section of the cover. Each of these angular extensions is provided with an outer and an inner series of ventilating apertures I l and I2, respectively, the inner series in each instance preferably being provided with a closure flap l3, that may be stitched or otherwise secured to said extensions, and provided with snap fasteners or other form of securing means for maintaining said flaps, either in lower position to span and close the adjacent series of apertures, or in raised position to expose said apertures for the free passage of air therethrough. The forward extension 9 is connected to the body section of said cover by way of a crease line 14, while substantially parallel crease lines l5 define the lines of union between the lateral angular extensions and the covers said slanting section 6.

Upon the laterally opposite sides of the flat central section I of the cover blank are a pair of laterally projecting side wall extensions I6, that are attached to said central section by crease lines [1, while said forward, central and rearward sections 6, l and 8, respectively, are connected together along crease lines IE, it being understood that the several crease lines referred to are not necessarily well defined, but are herein referred to largely for the purpose of defining the areas and limits of the several sections or subdivisions of the blank in the first place, and likewise the several sections of the improved cover when in finally assembled form, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4.

The free edge portion of each of said body sections is preferably provided with a stitched hem I9, such that when the outwardly extending portions 8, l6, l0 and 9 are brought together as by stitching, adhesive tape, or other suitable securing means, these hems form a continuous channel through which may extend a flexible cord (Fig. 6) the free ends of which are connected together by means of a section of suitable elastic 2|, so that when the cover is placed in operative position over the upper portions of a coach, the hemmed depending free edge portions of such cover are resiliently drawn together, thereby resisting the accidental removal of the cover from the coach, as during a strong wind or by the infant as it gets somewhat older and may seek to free itself.

One of the desirable characteristics of a cover' of this type is that its transparency makes it possible for the mother or other attendant to see the infant at all times, but if not otherwise protected the eyes of the infant might easily be iniured by the actinic rays, either coincident with direct light of the sun, or even by the glare from a bright summer sky. To prevent such injury, there is provided a colored, semi-transparent visor flap, that may be formed of the same material as the cover proper, but which comprises a central section 22, that extends transversely across the upper portion of the slanting section 6, and i stitched thereto along one edge 23, while laterally beyond the limits of said slanting section, said visor terminates in oppositely directed, free extending tapered section 24, the relatively pointed ends of which are provided in each instance with one eyelet member 25 of a snapfastener, while the lug 26 of the fastener is attached to the adjacent side section it of the cover. With this construction, said flap may be arranged in its lower operative position, as shown in Fig. 3, or may be reversed and raised to inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 4, by first separating the fastener eyelets 25 from the fastener lugs 26, reversing the visor flap and then refastening said eyelets and lugs in the second position. With this construction, the visor flap may be available to shield the eyes of the infant occupant of the coach as during bright sunshine, or may be withdrawn to lifted or retracted position before sunrise and after sunset, or during cloudy and overcast days.

When it is desirable to remove the cover from the coach, the hemmed edge with its cord 20 is manually drawn laterally outwardly at any point of its periphery, against the tension of the spring or elastic 2!, until it is possible to lift the cover freely from the coach, after which it may be folded in any desired shape and size, and placed in a bag, box, compartment, or other space that may be provided for it, and where it will be available at all times for ready use.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination of a coach cover formed of flexible transparent material generally shaped to conform to the contour of an average coach, in combination with a tinted semi-transparent visor flap, having the central portion of one of its edges secured along one edge as a hinge to said cover, and having oppositely directed, freely extending portions that project downwardly upon the laterally opposite sides of said cover and a central portion that extends downwardly across the central portion of said cover, and means to detachably secure the oppositely directed and central portions of said visor flap in operative position to shield the occupant of the coach from the suns rays, and in another inoperative position to permit full view of the coachs occupant from the outside of said cover.

2. The combination of a coach cover formed of flexible transparent material generally shaped to conform to the contour of an average coach, in combination with a tinted semi-transparent visor flap, having the central portion of one of its edges secured along one edge as a hinge to said cover, and having oppositely directed, freely extending portions that project downwardly upon the laterally opposite sides of said cover and a central portion that extends downwardly across the central portion of said cover, means to detachably secure the oppositely directed and central portions of said visor flap in operative position to shield the occupant of the coach from the suns rays, and in another inoperative position to permit full view of the coach occupant from the outside of said cover, a plurality of upper and lower ventilating apertures in the opposite side walls of said cover, and closure means to cover or expose a plurality of said apertures at will.

BERNARDINE C. KENNEDY. JQSEPH F. KENNEDY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 10 Number Name Date Clyman July 15, 1930 Lilleberg Oct. 15, 1940 Petrucelli May 10, 1949 Camp Apr. 3, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Aug. 5, 1924 

